ATLANTA , Georgia -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Ask Steve `` Lips '' Kudlow how his band , Anvil , overcame bad management , a dead colleague , cruddy jobs , unpaid tour bills , raging arguments and now mockery as a Spinal Tap clone , and he has one word : `` kismet . ''

Robb Reiner and Steve `` Lips '' Kudlow have never given up on playing rock 'n' roll .

He may be right .

When Sacha Gervasi , a former teenage Anvil fan-roadie turned Steven Spielberg scriptwriter -LRB- `` The Terminal '' -RRB- , decided to pursue a documentary about his old heroes , guitarist Kudlow was working part-time in his native Toronto , Ontario , delivering meals to schools . Drummer Robb Reiner was doing demolition work nearby .

Anvil still played , but it was a far cry from the mid - '80s , when the band did a Japanese show with Whitesnake , Bon Jovi and the Scorpions and became a model for groups such as Metallica and Anthrax -- bands that had far more success than Anvil .

Gervasi followed the group on an ill-fated European tour , watched them make an album with a name producer , and saw Kudlow and Reiner fight and make up , fight and make up , as they have since they were 15 and swore they 'd rock forever . Watch Kudlow and Reiner talk about their passion ''

The result is a documentary , `` Anvil ! The Story of Anvil , '' that 's earned rave reviews , is gradually rolling out across the country -- and has reawakened interest in Anvil .

At times , `` Anvil '' invokes the spirit of `` This Is Spinal Tap '' -- besides Reiner 's you-can ` t-make-this-up name , the guys even visit Stonehenge -- but , as Cinematical.com reviewer James Rocchi writes , the film 's comedy is cut by an unflinching honesty . Watch `` American Morning '' host -- and former music reporter -- John Roberts talk to Anvil

`` It 's better than most music documentaries . It 's better than most documentaries , period , '' he wrote after seeing the film at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival . `` I am about as metal as your aunt , and I was spellbound by ` Anvil ! The Story of Anvil . ' ... -LSB- It 's -RSB- a hymn to the human spirit , played loud in power chords . ''

The enthusiastic Kudlow and laconic Reiner came by CNN Center to talk about the film , their inspirations and why they 've always been successful . The following is an edited version of the interview .

CNN : What was the reaction when Sacha came to you and said he wanted to do a documentary on Anvil ?

Steve `` Lips '' Kudlow : I started crying , because it seemed like kismet , as if it was all meant to be this way . And quite honestly , it is . My internal optimism told me this is going to be the most successful thing that 's ever happened to me , and perhaps one of the greatest things that 's happened to rock music -- the greatest rock documentary that 's ever happened .

CNN : Robb ?

Robb Reiner : My initial reaction was that this was going to be cool , but I was n't really sure if anybody would care . After Sundance , I knew that this thing was going to be very successful . ... -LSB- It got -RSB- standing ovations . At that point , I knew something was coming .

CNN : The film , fairly or unfairly , has been presented as a real-life `` Spinal Tap . '' Is that fair ?

Kudlow : It was purposely done .

Reiner : It 's fair . What can you say ? We 're a heavy metal band . My name is Robb Reiner . -LSB- The director -RSB- is the other Rob Reiner , and Spinal Tap is the fake Anvil .

But , outside of that ... it was a Trojan horse to lead people into this . Realistically , we 're not like Spinal Tap , and the movie 's nothing like it either . It 's a spin that 's been created by the media , and we 've just been having fun with it .

CNN : A lot of times when a director sets out to make a documentary , the people who are in the documentary say , `` You cut this out , you changed this . '' It 's like a reality show . Did Sacha do this , or is it pretty much what you see is what happened ?

Kudlow : It 's pretty much what you see is what happened .

Reiner : They shot 320 hours of footage . The whole movie is a one-take movie . They just filmed everything ... they could have made five different movies out of the footage they had .

Kudlow : Sort of .

Reiner : Well , maybe three and a half .

Kudlow : It might have been five more-boring movies .

CNN : What was the first record you heard that said , this is the direction I want to go ?

Kudlow : The Beatles and the Rolling Stones , obviously ...

Reiner : For me it was Black Sabbath , Deep Purple , Grand Funk , Cactus , bands like that . Jimi Hendrix ...

CNN : There 's that funny bit in the movie in which you -LSB- Lips -RSB- talk about meeting Reiner by observing , `` I heard this guy playing Cactus . '' And then later you met -LSB- Cactus drummer -RSB- Carmine Appice .

Reiner : It 's like foreshadowing there .

Kudlow : And how do you get foreshadowing in a documentary ? You do n't . It 's just that 's the way things played themselves out . That 's what I mean by kismet . It 's as if the screenwriting were done by God . The stuff fell into place by itself .

CNN : It 's easy to make fun of a band -- or make a tragedy out of a band -- that does n't quite make it . But back in the '80s , you were playing in front of tens of thousands of people . Even if it had ended then , you say in the movie that you 've had the kind of success you were always hoping for .

Reiner : We 've been successful a lot as far as we 're concerned .

Kudlow : We 've recorded 13 albums .

Reiner : We 've been touring for 30 years .

Kudlow : Most of the magic that 's involved here is the fact that we 've always kept our guns loaded . We 've always been prepared . And it 's always staying on top of it and being ready for the opportunity when it came . And when Sacha contacted us after not seeing us for a number of years , it 's not like we 'd thrown in the towel or done anything like that . ...

Reiner : The music got us here . There would be no movie if the music did n't mean anything , or had n't meant something .

Kudlow : You would n't get testimonials from some of these people if the music did n't mean something . We did make a difference . We were an influence . And we 've always known that . And part of that is the fuel .

CNN : Are you tying in concerts with the movie ?

Reiner : It 's called the Anvil Experience . We show the movie and we play right after , in the theater . We 've been doing that for the last two months throughout America , and it 's like metal Beatlemania .

CNN : There was another album due ...

Reiner : `` Juggernaut of Justice '' is our next album . It 's written , and we 're just going to record at the end of the year and release it next year . We were going to keep rocking whether this movie came along or not . This movie is a rocket launcher to the mainstream , and here we are .

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`` Anvil ! The Story of Anvil '' is a documentary that has reawakened interest in band

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Anvil 's Steve `` Lips '' Kudlow and Robb Reiner have been dedicated to music

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Band went through hell in movie , but never lost passion

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A real-life `` Spinal Tap '' ? Fair , says Reiner , but misleading